"The soft glow of the moon caused her to cast misty shadows on the grave sites of lost loved ones as she walked through the grave yard. She had no purpose for being there, yet somehow compelled to continue on."
Generally I think my cards look better on the computer screen than in real life but this one is the exception. This is my entry for Haunted Design House challenge #18 .
It seems like tags are on every one's mind lately. From the Hero Arts challenge, t!m Holtz's 12 days of deliciousness, and my friend Elise coming down with Snowman-itis, everything is Tag, tag and TAG!
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I started out with a plan white card base, this happens to be A2 but size is not important. A piece of thin copy or printer paper (tear a strip off) and black ink. Ranger's Distress ink will work also but remember it is formulated to stay wet longer so it is even messier than pigment or dye ink.
Don't forget the application tool. For this I use a piece of makeup sponge. You can use a dried out wipe-up, piece of cloth, felt or purchased foam applicator. All of these will work but I like the make-up wedges just fine.
With something protecting your work surface (I use the rest of the copy paper) lay your torn strip across the top of your card base. I dab the sponge onto the ink pad and blot off a bit (look at the rectangle at the top right corner of this pic) just to keep from getting to strong of a line on my card face. Then with a wiping across action, I just basically swipe the sponge across the copy paper and onto the card face.
This pic shows the torn edge of the copy paper moved down a bit after I have finished my first row on the card face. Move the torn edge side to side and tilt a little as you work down the card. This will give you more visual interest.
Here you can see where I have worked my way down about a quarter of the way on the card base. I am only using one color of ink but I have achieved all these light and dark shades. I am doing nothing special. Each time I move the torn paper I dab in the ink, blot off a bit and then starting at one side, swipe across the torn paper onto the card base. That's it.
This is the entire card face completed with this method. Can you see the highs and lows, where it almost looks quilted? It is completely flat but it really does look like puffed up clouds. You do not have to use black, any ink color will do.
My next step is to mist with Perfect Pearls or Perfect Sparkles in water. This mister was purchased at Walmart for 50 cents. I then added water and some bronze Perfect Pearls. It has never clogged and has lasted me for ages. I use it a lot too. If left alone I would more than likely mist everything within reach as it leaves such a lovely soft glimmer on the surface... hey wait, I live alone, I can glimmer anything I want! Where is that cat?
After letting the glimmery mist dry, you can then stamp, glue, write upon or even spill pop (soda) on it if you want. Since you never tear your paper the same way twice, your backgrounds will be so different each time. The fact that they are different but never disappointing is what makes me a huge fan of this technique.
I swear these cards were never wrinkled, folded, creased or cussed at in any way! Cross my heart! What ever dimension you see is purely trick of the eye!
I so hope you have not only enjoyed this tutorial but that I made it understandable. Please take a moment and let me know. I can only improve with knowledge and practice...
Till next time, ENJOY! the Oz
I made this card for the "Win a day on the Blog" at Hero Arts. 3 or 4 times a year (didn't do my research here) the fine folks at Hero Arts pick 4 or 5 (again with the lack of research) extremely talented folks to feature on their blog. They pick these folks from their Flickr group. All you have to do is submit your work by tagging it correctly. The current tag is "blogday2009". Easy peasy! The current deadline is Nov 30th, so I still have lots of time. Nothing to it...we are talking breeze through...
I covered a General Foods International coffee tin and then filled it with cold remedies. I started with some Bazzill textured cardstock. Still #1 IMHO! After treating the top with a Fiskars edge punch, I adhered it to the tin with Terrifically Tacky (TT) tape. Then I layered on some Little Yellow Bicycle pp which I "Durango-ed" up with distress ink. Here comes the chickens and some Offray ribbon. I used an Nestie to cut the ovals. One from kraft and one from them chickens. Little more distress ink and a few pop dots later, you have yourself one delightful container.
